Casper Man Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Child Porn Crimes
A Casper man will spend the rest of his life in prison for possession of and production of child pornography, according to the sentence handed down Thursday.
Salvador Salas Jr., heard the sentence of 170 years from Chief U.S. District Court Judge Scott Skavdahl after the victim and her family spoke.
Skavdahl said this was one of the most disturbing trials over which he has presided.
What Salas did to the then 13-year-old girl fell just shy of murder, he said.
"You took a child, groomed, gave her drugs and sexually raped her at the tender age of 13 years," he said, adding that Salas also recorded the acts.
The crime also affected her entire family, he said.
"What you wreaked upon this family is unspeakable," Skavdahl said. "It necessitates a harsh sentence."
In January, A federal trial jury found Salas guilty of six child pornography counts including five for coercing a 13-year-old girl -- sometimes plied with methamphetamine -- to produce images and video.
The jury took only two hours to find him guilty after three days of testimony of about 20 witnesses called by the government.
The indictment handed up by the federal grand jury on July 22, 2021, accused Salas of one count of possessing child pornography and six counts of production of child pornography.
Under federal law, possession of child pornography is punishable by up to 20 years imprisonmnet.
Production of child pornography is punishable by 15 years to 30 years imprisonment.
Skavdahl sentenced Salas to the maximum terms on each count.
The case began on Feb. 28, 2021, when a woman believed her 13-year-old daughter was high on methamphetamine and took her to the emergency room at the Wyoming Medical Center, according to the pre-trial memorandum written in January by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christyne Martens.
A doctor confirmed that the girl’s behavior and burn marks on her lips were consistent with methamphetamine use.
Martens wrote that the mother would testify that she considered Salas a friend and her daughter would go over to his house to babysit and help him with his graphic design business.
The night before, Salas messaged the mother saying he was going to a store to get medicine because he thought she was having a reaction to something.
About 3:30 the next day, the mother found her daughter at home, “behaving strangely, shaking and not making sense,” prompting the emergency room trip.
A few days later, Casper Police executed a search warrant at Salas’ home for evidence of drug use and distribution and found methamphetamine, cocaine and the opioid buprenorphine.
That same day, officers executed another search warrant to collect Salas’ electronic devices.
A Department of Homeland Security computer forensic analyst from the Wyoming Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force found downloaded child pornography on the devices, and he had about 50 photos of the girl and five videos with Salas having sex with her.
A subsequent medical exam found Salas had given the girl a sexually transmitted disease, Martens wrote.
The Natrona County District Attorney first had the case.
After the execution of the search warrants, District Attorney’s office in April charged Salas with 13 counts including sexual abuse of a minor, sexual exploitation of children, and a number of drug-related crimes.
Four months later, federal prosecutors took over the case.
The prosecutors asked U.S. Magistrate Kelly Rankin to detain Salas, and the judge agreed.
Rankin wrote detention was warranted because of the seriousness of the allegations, a history of alcohol and substance abuse, a history of violence including domestic violence, and a lengthy criminal history.